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Book review

Lavinia Plonka grew up as the oldest child of Holocaust survivors trying to figure out what it meant to be American. Starting with mandatory accordion lessons, she went on to become a street mime in NYC and has continued her unconventional life teaching the Feldenkrais Method®. Meditating With My Hair On Fire weaves together autobiographical stories with weighty philosophical questions in a uniquely hilarious way: Are aliens stealing our time? Can one find enlightenment at Sam’s Club? Are nail salons a galactic conspiracy? This compilation is a fraction of the monthly columns Plonka has written for Western North Carolina Woman over the past 12 years where she has developed a devoted following. It's a short book, Lavinia believes in leaving people wanting more. But in her 33 essays she rescues hummingbirds stuck in her husband's chainsaw oil, ponders the geography of dirt, meets her doppleganger in Iowa and so much more.